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Picked Up Our First Kneeboard for the Bennington!

SnakeByte

SnakeByte

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So, last weekend we got the tube going for the first time, and it was a blast!  Given how much fun I had (I mean the kids had), I thought I would get another water toy for the Bennington.  I decided kneeboarding looked like fun and jump on Overton's to do some shopping...can't put my finger on it, but there was just something that I liked about how this kneeboard looked.  It got great reviews too.

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Can't wait to try it tomorrow!

-Jason
 
Just a tip if you haven't done it before... Especially with kids, you don't have to jamb the throttle to pull them out like you would for a skier. Just gentle smooth acceleration. It doesn't take much pull to get all that board surface area on top of the water. I finally learned to pull wakeboarders out by going just barely above idle speed, maybe 10-12. My kids just stood right up. Saves a lot of gas too.
 
Hey Snakebite - Get that strap off there!  Those are DANGEROUS! Take the handles that hold the strap in place off too (two screws each).  Once the strap is off, little fingers can fit in there and they risk getting ripped off.

Both my kids got trapped under the board while using the strap after letting go of the rope and falling over.  They get trapped upside down, strapped to the board.  My daughter kicked it off in a panic last summer, and still has a 2-inch scar in her leg from where the kneeboard ripped her skin off.  She showed me it today. 

We now run without the strap (and no strap handles either) and the kids are able to ride it just fine.  You don't need the strap on a kneeboard any more than you would need a strap on a tube.  And THAT sounds pretty bad to have a strap on a tube, right?

It's only there for experts who can jump the wake and get airborne.  My neighbor can do 360s on our kneeboard without the strap.

GET IT TAKEN OFF.  It is dangerous.
 
TomS said:
Just a tip if you haven't done it before... Especially with kids, you don't have to jamb the throttle to pull them out like you would for a skier. Just gentle smooth acceleration. It doesn't take much pull to get all that board surface area on top of the water. I finally learned to pull wakeboarders out by going just barely above idle speed, maybe 10-12. My kids just stood right up. Saves a lot of gas too.
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I agree completely.  10-12 mph, slowly accelerating, is enough to get them up.  Beginners go 15 mph once situated on the board and they have the handle in their hands.  17-18 mph for my kid that has used it a lot and is confident with it.

They are fun though.  And that hook makes it VERY easy for beginners.

Get that strap off there though.
 
Strap is gone!  Thanks for the pointer!
 
I'll be honest, I'd be more worried about the hook on the front in a wipeout. The one we have you push down on the corner of the flat cover and it rotates up so you can hook on, but as soon as you are up and pull the rope off, it flips back down. The first time I ever tried knee boarding it was on my cousin's "pro board" , no hook. So I had to hold on to the rope with my hands, try to pull myself up with my elbows. I'm not in shape, nor agile. It was fun. But I did it, rode around for a bit, then figured I should jump the wake! Not so smart. Leaned to far forward (I had the rope out to far from my body too) nose of the board caught the water and I got one heck of a solid water smack in the face. Good times, good times! I retired from knee boarding at that point.
 
A retractable hook is a great idea. Never seen one with that. If we ever get a second board I'll make sure to get one with that.

In hindsight, I don't like the black color either. Only because it makes it hard to see. But kneeboards are thick and stick out of the water pretty good. A friend has black water skis and they are hard to see since they barely float and barely stick up out of the water.
 
Hey Snakebite, if you ever see a rider porpoise, you are going a tad too fast. Just like your boat at WOT and too much trim. You'll know it when you see it, but that's all you have to do. It happens to me most often when I forget to bring the GPS. There's a pretty small window of speed that the kneeboard works in.

That's it. That's everything I know. Very cool looking board by the way. Ours is very similar, only green instead of red. Your kids will love it (unless they get trapped by the strap and never want to ride it again.)
 
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Agree with all the posts, a lot of people just starting don't know that the front hook is for hooking the handle of the ski rope. Makes it lots easier to get up and get settled in to ride
 
Just another thought... Don't throw the strap away. Once they are comfortable using it, it can go back on and it does help once they get brave with tricks and stuff, but for small kids or beginners, take it off.
 
Ditto on removing the strap.  Someone nearby lost their daughter because of this. The girl strapped her legs into it and was just playing on it near the doc from what I heard (very shallow).  Sad story, but everyone knows, and hopefully if you're reading this and considering getting a knee board you now know the dangers as well.  Glad to hear you removed the strap!
 
Wow, I can't imagine having a problem with the strap. I believe you, just never imagined it being a problem since once you get up and are getting yourself strapped in, you usually aren't able to really cinch it down since you are holding a rope, balancing on the water and trying not to wipeout. 
 
Kells, thanks for adding the emphasis to this.

Generally on an adult, the ass is bigger than the knee.  That makes the angle between the upper thigh and the kneeboard such that an adult will "squirt out" from under the strap when they wipe out. If that makes any sense.

For kids, their upper thigh is pretty much parallel to the board since they can pretty much sit their butt right on the board between their feet.  So when a kid is strapped in, their upper leg is pretty much parallel with the board, and since there is very little angle, they don't automatically "squirt out" from under the strap and they can get trapped.

It more or less says all this on a tag on my strap in fine print. I just hadn't noticed it before.  I felt pretty stupid because I'm the type that will read every word in my insurance policies, yet nearly killed both my kids kneeboarding.  Hoping others here don't make the same mistake.
 
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So I'll chime in and admit that I have struggled with this about a week ago. We bought a knee board to have some fun behind the boat. I had knee boarded for the first time a couple years ago behind the in-laws R series with a 115. I got up the first time. Tried it behind our boat and I got the crap beat out of me. I started to porpoise like a mother. My elbows would keep slamming into the board to the point where I could not pull myself up and would ultimately have to ditch the rope. We have the front hook thing so based on the above posts it seems my wife was trying to either kill me, or the 200 needs to be feathered a little more. As for the handle hook, do you start with it pulling the board so you have both hands on the board? My goal is to try this again tomorrow.

And SnakeByte- I love the Viper board! There is no way you could not have bought that once you saw it! Looks like the 90's font as well.
 
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Interesting comments here. Our old O'Brien knee board just has a strap, no hook so we never thought or knew to remove it. As they do more tricks it's nice to have. Ours do spins, wake launches/jumps, etc. so they like the strap tight.

I've taught and towed kids (mostly teens+) on knee boards a lot over they years because it always seems the least intimidating to them behind the boat. It does beat you to death, very hard on the knees. Wake boards are MUCH gentler and easy to get up on IMHO. If you're porpoising a knee board, it's way too fast. When I teach tow drivers, I tell them just to "squeeze evenly on the throttle" to plane the board gently, not jam it, allowing you to shinny up onto your knees on the board, raising the grab on the rope, stabilize the board, then cinch the strap up. Once level, the driver should find a good cruise speed for the size of board and weight of rider.

#1 rule in all board/ski sports (water and snow), is DON'T look down because that's the direction you go - face plant! And it hurts on a knee board. Keep head up, eyes forward to where you want to go, back straight, hips level/forward. Flexing (not locked) arms towards hips gives control and a good pivot point for turning, cutting, and such. Have fun!
 
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Good to know Tom. Sounds like we were over accelerating. Curious what others say about starting with the rope on the hook.
 
Andy, you are right on regarding the hook. Do just as you wrote above and tell your wife if she goes too fast while the rope is on the hook, it will slingshot the kneeboard into the boat if you fall off. Ha ha
 
Bought the same board kids have a great time. Easy to get up on. Enjoy
 
We used our kneeboard behind a two toon with a 50 HP Yamaha while on vacation a couple weeks ago. Kids had a blast. My 200 lb plus BIL got up on it too. Max speed of the boat with just me on board was 18 mph. With 12 on board it pulled the kneeboarder around 14 mph. You don't need much motor for a kneeboard....
 
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